The 2010 Durham District Junior League One Final, saw the league of eight swimming teams reduced to six with Durham and Chester-le-Street being eliminated from what proved to be a thrilling competition at the Felling pool between the Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Stockton, Tynemouth and Newburn youngsters.
This year the Sunderland team - last year’s runners up to Newcastle - were seeking top spot and the coveted position of regional representatives in the national championships.
The Sunderland team got off to a great start with the boys 8 x 25m freestyle team taking second spot, followed by success in the 10 year old freestyle events with Beth Nicholson clinching second place in the girls event and Joseph Pomfret taking third spot in the boys.
The girls 11 year old team - Jodi Bunker, Lauren Patterson, Jay Whitehead and Jennifer Sharp - took two second place finishes in the 100m freestyle and the 100m medley events, while two further second place swims by ten year olds Eve Larsen and Mathew Walker Smith in the 50m breaststroke events, together with a third placing for nine year old Harry Staines in the 25m breaststroke event, began to accumulate vital points for the team.
The 12 year old girls team - Jessica Thompson, Laura Taylor, Georgina Lamb, Ashlyn Liddle and Christina Castledine - secured Sunderland’s first top spot finish of the day in the 100m medley event, followed up with a further success in the 100m freestyle, while the boys team - Andrew Markham, Harry Richardson, Kristian Donaldson, Ryan Brewster and Callum Reveley – took third place in the 100m medley.
The first individual win of the day was achieved by Beth Nicholson in the ten year old 50m backstroke in a time of 40.76, followed by further maximum points in exciting victories by Jodi Bunker in the 11 years 50m breaststroke in 43.10, Laura Taylor in the 12 years 50m freestyle in 31.40 and Joseph Pomfret in the 10 years 50m butterfly in a time of 39.51.
The 10 year old girls – Jazmine Moss, Eve Larsen, Beth Nicholson and Amelia Bateman – won the 100m freestyle, followed by a further victory in an exciting duel with Tynemouth in the 100m medley - touching ahead by just 0.22 of a second. However Tynemouth reversed the positions in the boys 100m medley event where, Joseph Pomfret, Mathew Walker Smith and Callum Dann took a well fought for second place, followed by third place finish in the 100m freestyle. The eleven year old boys team – Thomas Burns, James Brewerton, Niall Morris and Will Robinson – also chipped in with a second place finish in the 100m medley, while the nine year old boys - Harry Staines, Max Vardy, Ben Hutchinson, JJ Robinson and Joshua Wright – took third in the 100m freestyle. The nine year old girls - Natalya Sharp, Charlotte Jurgens, Steph Burdess , Aleisha Ballentyne and Jennifer Shovlin, also won vital points for the team.
Further individual success was achieved with second place finishes by Andrew Markham in the 50m backstroke, Ben Hutchinson in the 25m butterfly, James Brewerton in the 50m butterfly and a third in the 50m breaststroke, with other third place finishes by; Georgina Lamb – 50m breaststroke, Jodi Bunker – 50m butterfly, Jessica Thompson - 50m backstroke, Amelia Bateman – 50m butterfly, Lauren Patterson – 50m freestyle, Ben Hutchinson – 25m freestyle and Thomas Burns – 50m freestyle.
The Sunderland team finished the day as runners up to the Newcastle team, with the final league positions being:
1. City of Newcastle.
2. City of Sunderland.
3. Tynemouth.
4. Middlesbrough.
5. Newburn.
6. Stockton.
As well as the league runners up trophy, the Sunderland team returned home with the winner’s trophy for the ten year old age group and the runners up trophy for the twelve year old age group. The team were also awarded the winner’s trophy for the fancy dress competition held before the swimming event, in which the team were dressed as angels and devils. |
